The Secrets of Success in Marketing

134 PART 2 It takes more than a product to succeed

Help customers reduce their costs

‘Through-life cost’ is a concept used in engineering to

describe products that have a value beyond their initial pur-

chase price. For example, a component that is higher priced

may be simple to assemble, easy to maintain and have a long

life. The costs of that product over a whole life are likely to

be lower than those of an inferior product that may cost less

initially, but prove expensive in the long run when installa-

tion, servicing and replacement costs are taken into account.

By working with the customer to identify and reduce through-

life costs, you ...